Jonathan Djanogly

The Government Response to consultation on ‘Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance’ set out ambitious proposals to improve audit and corporate governance in the UK. Reform is already underway, and the Financial Reporting Council has made significant changes.

Some of the Government’s plans, including the creation of the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, require primary legislation. The Government will legislate when Parliamentary time allows.

The Government Response to consultation on ‘Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance’ set out ambitious proposals to improve audit and corporate governance in the UK. Reform is already underway, and the Financial Reporting Council has made significant changes.

Some of the Government’s plans, including the creation of the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, require primary legislation. The Government will legislate when Parliamentary time allows.

The Government has endorsed the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and encouraged all publicly-listed companies to implement them.

We sought views on companies’ ability to apply these recommendations with consistency through the work of the Green Finance Taskforce and the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting Consultation. The Green Finance Taskforce published its report in March and we will respond in due course.

We want to ensure that the next EU framework programme for research and development (FP9) remains focused on excellence, with appropriate financial contributions and suitable level of influence for Associated Countries. We have set out further detail in our recent FP9 position paper and sought to assure the EU of our commitment to ongoing collaboration in Science and Innovation. The UK’s participation in FP9 will depend upon the outcome of our negotiations with the EU.

Applications for courses starting in 2019/20 do not open until September 2018, and we will ensure EU students starting courses in that academic year have information well in advance of this date.

Applications for courses starting in 2019/20 do not open until September 2018, and we will ensure EU students starting courses in that academic year have information well in advance of this date.

No specific assessment of the effectiveness of our hen harrier recovery policies based on the ownership of land has been made.

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill will ensure that plants and animals developed using precision breeding technologies in ways which mimic traditional and natural processes, and food and feed products produced from such plants and animals, can be regulated proportionately to risk.

Under this Bill, HM Government intends to introduce simpler regulatory measures to enable food and feed produced from precision bred plants or animals to be brought to market more easily, and we will support our leading scientists to develop plants and animals that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease and resilient to extreme temperatures. HM Government acknowledges the potential benefits of innovative protein development and will continue to work together with interested parties including the cultivated meat sector on developments in this area.

It is for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to decide how and when it publishes information collected from across its reserves, and as such, the Secretary of State has no plans to hold discussions with the RSPB on their internal decisions around publishing data.

Of the 1,721.9 hectares of woodland identified within the Huntingdon constituency, 540.5 hectares (1.6% of land within the constituency or 31.4% of woodland within the constituency) is classed as ancient woodland.

There are 45 discrete areas of ancient woodland in the Huntingdon constituency. Twenty-nine are located in the western arm of the constituency to the west of the A1, mainly around Grafham Water. The others are mostly in two pockets: in the southern arm of the constituency to the west of Great Gransden; and in the far north side of the constituency north of Alconbury.

A map showing the location of the ancient woodland has been placed in the House Library.

Stansted Express services are operated by Greater Anglia which continues to carefully monitor passenger numbers on the route; targeted adjustments to service levels will be made when required. Greater Anglia continues to work closely with Network Rail and Manchester Airport Group, which manages Stansted Airport, to ensure service levels are adequate.

In terms of passenger numbers at Stansted Airport railway station, the last data set available relates to April 2019 - March 2020 and shows that there was an estimate of 8,474,784 station entries and exits. The data for 2023/24 is not yet available. The Office of Road and Rail produces this data and it will be available in due course.

Stansted Express services are operated by Greater Anglia which continues to carefully monitor passenger numbers on the route; targeted adjustments to service levels will be made when required. Greater Anglia continues to work closely with Network Rail and Manchester Airport Group, which manages Stansted Airport, to ensure service levels are adequate.

In terms of passenger numbers at Stansted Airport railway station, the last data set available relates to April 2019 - March 2020 and shows that there was an estimate of 8,474,784 station entries and exits. The data for 2023/24 is not yet available. The Office of Road and Rail produces this data and it will be available in due course.

Stansted Express services are operated by Greater Anglia which continues to carefully monitor passenger numbers on the route; targeted adjustments to service levels will be made when required. Greater Anglia continues to work closely with Network Rail and Manchester Airport Group, which manages Stansted Airport, to ensure service levels are adequate.

In terms of passenger numbers at Stansted Airport railway station, the last data set available relates to April 2019 - March 2020 and shows that there was an estimate of 8,474,784 station entries and exits. The data for 2023/24 is not yet available. The Office of Road and Rail produces this data and it will be available in due course.

The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme is on budget and on target to open to traffic by 2020/21 as planned.

Highways England have encountered some challenges with the archaeology work schedule, but they have been able to work flexibly to ensure there has not been an impact on the construction programme. Highways England confirm this will not have an impact on the overall scheme budget and will be able to publish final costs once the scheme has completed.

Approximately £40.7 million to £43.4 million has been spent by the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme on archaeological works to date with a further £1.5 million to £5 million expected in the future. These works have been necessary to meet the commitments Highways England made during the Development Consent Order process. More accurate costs will be published after the scheme has been completed.

Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly in the United Kingdom and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.

The evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption, and all tobacco products are harmful. When smoked, tobacco kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users. Tobacco smoke has been classified as a group one carcinogen, and tobacco smoke from cigars leads to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke.

The upcoming smokefree generation legislation proposes to align to existing age of sale legislation by applying it to any product containing tobacco, including cigars and pipe tobacco. In the Government’s response to the consultation, Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping published on 29 January 2024, 63.8% of respondents to the question on product scope agreed that all tobacco products should be included in the new age of sale restrictions.

Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.

This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.

In development of this policy, we have, and will continue to, speak to a range of stakeholders including in the public health community both in the UK and globally, and government officials in countries such as New Zealand.

We have worked with the General Dental Council to develop and consult on legislative proposals which provide greater flexibility to amend its existing international registration processes and explore alternative registration pathways, as appropriate. The resulting draft order was laid in Parliament on 11 October 2022 and subject to Parliamentary approval, we expect it to come into force by early 2023.

Although no formal assessment has been made of the reduction in the number of people accessing Local Stop Smoking Services in the last five years, Public Health England has been working with local areas, practitioners and experts in the field to better understand the reasons for the reduction in the number of people accessing services and consider how best to continue to help people stop smoking.

The Department has no plans to undertake consumer facing information campaigns in preparation for the introduction of the revised Tobacco Products Directive’s (TPD) requirements.

The TPD introduces a number of new product, labelling and reporting requirements for businesses supplying tobacco products, herbal products and e-cigarettes. The Department has and will continue to engage with businesses to make them aware of the new requirement and has recently held training sessions on the new legislation for enforcement officers. The Department will work alongside enforcement officers to build compliance over the transition period set out in the Regulations.

We will not provide a running commentary on negotiations, but the UK is using all diplomatic channels to support the international effort being facilitated through Egypt, Qatar and the US.

We discuss all aspects of the current conflict with the Government of Israel.

The Foreign Secretary has also raised Iran's long-term support for proscribed groups directly with the Iranian Foreign Minister on 17 January and the UK's new sanctions regime designed to target Iran and its proxies' hostile activity came into force on 14 December. Iran must use its influence to curb attacks and deescalate regional tensions.

Since Hamas' abhorrent terrorist attacks on 7 October, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the Minister of State for the Middle East have spoken to counterparts from more than 20 countries as part of extensive diplomatic efforts to prevent regional escalation and to sustain the prospect of peace and stability in the Middle East. On 22 November the Foreign Secretary hosted Islamic and Arab leaders in London to discuss the Israel/Gaza conflict and on 24 November, the Foreign Secretary travelled to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to engage with leaders from the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel. Ministers also continue to focus on opposing any attempts by malign actors to cause further escalation in the region.

We have long been concerned by Hizballah's stockpiling of weapons within Lebanon, in contravention of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs). We regularly raise this at the UN Security Council, and we call on the Lebanese authorities to abide by provisions of the relevant UNSCRs. Hizballah's destabilising influence threatens regional stability and endangers Lebanon and its people.

We remain deeply concerned by Hamas's attempts to re-arm and rebuild militant infrastructure, including the tunnel network, in Gaza. Such actions undermine efforts to improve the situation in Gaza and harm the prospects for peace. During my visit to Israel at the end of May, I witnessed first-hand the impact of Hamas tunnels and rockets on the Israeli communities close to Gaza.

The Government keeps all tax reliefs, including the Share Incentive Plan (SIP), under review. In June 2023, the Government published a call for evidence on SIP and the other non-discretionary share scheme, Save As You Earn. The government is carefully considering the responses and evidence submitted and will respond in due course. Any tax policy changes would be announced at a fiscal event in the usual way.

As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 October 2023, the Government is creating the first smokefree generation, by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. This will prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking, as there is no safe age to smoke. The ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’ command paper sets out the proposed actions the Government will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stopping-the-start-our-new-plan-to-create-a-smokefree-generation

The Government launched the ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ consultation on 12 October on the smokefree generation policy detailed in the command paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping

Once final policy decisions are confirmed, the impact of those decisions on the public finances will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.

A smokefree generation will save the NHS billions over the long-term and put cash back in the pockets of millions of families across this country.

Details of reports of potential financial sanctions breaches considered in 2021-2022 are included in OFSI’s latest annual review which is available on GOV.UK. Updated figures will be provided in the next annual review.

Breaches of financial sanctions are a criminal offence and OFSI continues to assess every reported suspected breach of UK sanctions regulations. OFSI does not initiate criminal investigations into suspected breaches. Where criminal investigation is appropriate, referrals are made to relevant law enforcement partners.

Companies and individuals looking to circumvent sanctions may have a specific interest in the number of law enforcement referrals arising from reports of suspected sanctions breaches. The disclosure of any information which could prejudice OFSI’s enforcement responsibilities would not be in the public interest and may aid crimes such as the circumvention of financial sanctions.

Details of reports of potential financial sanctions breaches considered in 2021-2022 are included in OFSI’s latest annual review which is available on GOV.UK. Updated figures will be provided in the next annual review.

Breaches of financial sanctions are a criminal offence and OFSI continues to assess every reported suspected breach of UK sanctions regulations. OFSI does not initiate criminal investigations into suspected breaches. Where criminal investigation is appropriate, referrals are made to relevant law enforcement partners.

Companies and individuals looking to circumvent sanctions may have a specific interest in the number of law enforcement referrals arising from reports of suspected sanctions breaches. The disclosure of any information which could prejudice OFSI’s enforcement responsibilities would not be in the public interest and may aid crimes such as the circumvention of financial sanctions.

Following the announcement of a review of the Save As You Earn (SAYE) Bonus Rate Mechanism, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are consulting with administrators of SAYE schemes and their representatives to identify options to introduce a new, simpler and more transparent mechanism. HMRC is working closely with those groups to ensure any new mechanism will be appropriate for both current and future market conditions.

HMRC will provide a further update on the review for interested groups in due course.